Tivat terminal construction to begin in April 2016

Tivat Airport to open new terminal in summer 2018

The construction of Tivat Airport’s multi million euro new terminal building is set to begin in April 2016, with work to be completed by the start of the 2018 summer season. Speaking to the “Vijesti” daily, Managing Director Damir Pinjatić says the airport is in the final stages of arranging a twenty million euro loan with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The entire project, valued at 32 million euros, includes the construction of a new terminal building, jetways, apron and a parking lot. “In October, the tender for the design of the new building should begin. We plan for construction to start in March or April 2016, while the expansion of the apron should commence in September or October next year”, Mr Pinjatić says.

The new terminal building, once completed, will stretch over 13.000 square metres, while the apron will have the capacity to handle up to nine aircraft and will include two parking positions for heavy aircraft. The new facility will have the ability to welcome three million passengers per year. Tivat Airport has been facing capacity issues over the past few years. Meanwhile, the Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services Agency (SMATSA), which controls the airspace of both countries, will begin the construction of a new control tower at Tivat Airport this autumn. Scheduled for completion in early 2016 and at a price of four million euros, the tower has been described as an “architectural masterpiece”.

Tivat Airport handled 492.067 passengers during the first half of the year, a decline of 1.1% compared to the same period in 2014, as the airport deals with a sharp downturn in visitors from Ukraine. However, Mr Pinjatić says a strong July and August will make up for the slump, which should see Tivat break its annual passenger record set last year. “With exception to Ukraine, the number of visitors from all of our other main markets - Serbia, Russia and Belarus - have been stable or have seen modest growth". In 2014 Tivat handled a record 910.533 passengers, the bulk of which came in July and August. It is now the former Yugoslavia’s eighth busiest airport, ahead of Sarajevo and Podgorica.